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Ah, mac-n-cheese...classic comfort food, but it ain’t the most comfortable dish to whip up from scratch is it😣? Luckily for you, we’ve got 2 straightforward recipes that will hit all the right spots: an easy 4-ingredient version that might just become your go-to for late-night snacks/quick dorm fixes and a more “proper” version for when you are trying to impress the kids...or the kids at heart🤭. And if you’re looking to dial it up a notch, the crumb topping ain’t optional anymore!
~Optional Crumb Topping~
8g unsalted butter (2 teaspoons)
50g panko breadcrumbs
as desired herb and spice mix of your choice (you could also opt for curry powder,
cajun/jerk/Italian seasoning, or tōgarashi)
Yield: approx. 60g
Simply melt butter in a frying pan, add remaining ingredients and stir around for 3-5min till crumbs are nicely toasted and as brown as you like😉!
~The ‘Ain’t Nobody Got Time’ Version~
milk
dry macaroni/pasta
grated/shredded cheese (at least 3 types - mozzarella, parmesan, and a type of your choice)
mustard
Yield: ...it really depends
1) Measure out equal amounts - by volume - of milk, macaroni/pasta, and cheese. (just eyeball it!)
2) Bring milk to a boil.
3) Simmer macaroni/pasta in milk till 2min shy of the cooking time on the packaging instructions.
4) Stir in a small spoonful of mustard (or more, if you fancy), remove mixture from heat and immediately stir in cheeses till evenly distributed and melted. (if there are any lumps of unmelted cheese after 3-5min of stirring, return the mixture to low heat, stirring for 1min)
Recommendations and FAQs
🔪If you are looking for good-quality dairy that ain’t too pricey, go for Emborg, President, Paysan-Breton, or Lurpak.
🔪If you’d like a thinner/looser sauce, increase the amount of milk by an extra splash or two. Alternatively, stir in some spinach at step 3.
🔪The ratio of cheeses is up to you so long as they add up to be about the same amount as the milk and macaroni/pasta. If you are wondering if you could substitute the mozzarella and parmesan for something else (or eliminate them entirely)...well...the former creates the all essential cheese pull and the latter helps to make the flavours being married in this dish more coherent, so why would you want to replace/omit them?
🔪A cheat to introduce more flavour to the dish is to replace half of your milk with a cream soup of your choice😏(it could be canned or perhaps your homemade leftovers). If you do this, reduce the proportion of parmesan unless the soup is low in sodium. If you are using a canned soup, you could omit the mustard - which serves as an emulsifier to keep the sauce from splitting - since the soup would contain emulsifying agents of its own.
🔪What do you recommend for the third cheese? Gruyere, gouda, Swiss or cheddar. These are pretty safe options (they could hardly be said to be too funky or adventurous for most people).
🔪Should I be using fully ground mustard? Is whole-grain fine? Just use whatever you have in your pantry or can easily get your hands on....this is supposed to be the quick and easy version remember🤨?
~The ‘Trying To Impress’ version~
70g dry macaroni/pasta
220g cheese (at least 3 types - mozzarella, parmesan, and a type of your choice)
as desired white/yellow/brown onion
30g unsalted butter (2 tablespoons)
15g plain flour (2 tablespoons)
320g milk (cold)
as desired salt and spices of your choice
4g mustard (1 teaspoon - optional)
extra cheese to sprinkle on top at the end
Yield: approx. 700g
Preheat Oven to 200°C
1) Bring a pot of water to a boil, add macaroni/pasta and simmer till 5min shy of the cooking time on the packaging instructions.
2) As macaroni/pasta is boiling, cube mozzarella (approx. 1cm³), grate parmesan, cube/shred/grate remaining cheese(s) and slice onion.
3) Drain macaroni/pasta water and leave macaroni/pasta to cool in the pot at room temperature.
4) Sautée onion in butter on medium-high for 3-6min until lightly browned.
5) Add flour into onion mixture and cook off (stirring constantly) for 2-3min till the smell of raw flour is gone.
6) Add milk into onion mixture in 5 equal parts (just eyeball it), stirring constantly (ensuring no lumps of flour and milk form) during and after each addition.
7) Add mustard to onion-milk mixture and continue stirring until sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon.
8) Remove mixture from heat and immediately stir in cheeses till evenly distributed and season as desired. (don’t worry if some lumps of cheese aren’t melting properly at this point)
9) Stir macaroni/pasta into sauce till evenly distributed and pour entire mixture into a casserole dish (a disposable foil baking pan would work as well).
10) Sprinkle on some extra cheese. (preferably grated parmesan and cheddar)
11) Bake for 20-30min.
Recommendations and FAQs
🔪If you don’t own an oven, or simply want to get the dish done as quick as possible, 1️⃣ simmer your macaroni/pasta till 2min shy of the cooking time on the packaging instructions step 1, 2️⃣ return the mixture to low heat and stir for 1-2min if there are any lumps of unmelted cheese after 3-5min of stirring at step 8, and 3️⃣ skip steps 9 and 10.
🔪If you are looking for good-quality dairy that ain’t too pricey, go for Emborg, President, Paysan-Breton, or Lurpak.
🔪The ratio of cheeses is up to you so long as they add up to 220g. If you are wondering if you could substitute the mozzarella and parmesan for something else (or eliminate them entirely)...well...the former creates the all essential cheese pull and the latter helps to make the flavours being married in this dish more coherent, so why would you want to replace/omit them?
🔪What do you recommend for the third cheese? Gruyere, gouda, Swiss or cheddar. These are pretty safe options (they could hardly be said to be too funky or adventurous for most people). Whatever choice you make, make sure to cube it if it is a soft cheese and shred/grate it if it is a hard cheese.
🔪Can I use pre-shredded or pre-grated cheese? The final dish will turn out much better if you shred/grate the cheeses yourself (do a comparison test for yourself if you are cynical). And this is supposed to be the ‘trying to impress’ version remember🤨?
🔪But what if I don’t own a grater? Well, your best option is obviously to purchase one! But if you are in a rush or are trying to save your dollars, whip out your mandoline or vegetable peeler! You’ll get thin shards instead of shreds or specks but the point of grating is just to get smaller pieces of cheese so that they melt properly anyways🤗. There’s also the option to use a food processor (the blades of which you will have to spray with cooking oil), but that’s going to be a pain to wash (and the additional oil might cause your sauce to be greasy and split)😰.
🔪Should I be using fully ground mustard? Is whole-grain fine? If you are choosing to season your mac and cheese with spices (on top of mere salt and pepper) and include the crumb topping, we recommend that you go for whole-grain mustard since its taste isn’t as strong and, therefore, would not confuse the flavour of the overall dish. If not, opt for fully ground variants such as dijon.
🔪What do you mean by ‘coats the back of a spoon’ in step 7? Click here and skip to 0:09 for a demonstration of the ‘coating-the-back-of-a-spoon’ test. As shown, the mixture should cling on to the spoon well enough for you to draw a clear line through it with your finger.